Court upholds petitioner's right to be heard before valuation report finalization

The court declined to interfere with the petitioner's request for a direction to be heard before the District Valuation Officer finalizes the valuation report. It was noted that the Assessing Officer must provide the petitioner with an opportunity to be heard after receiving the report from the Valuation Officer before making a final assessment. As the assessment had not been completed, the court found it premature to intervene and disposed of the petition, allowing the petitioner to raise objections during the assessment process before the Assessing Officer.

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Issues:
1. Petitioner's prayer for a direction to be heard before finalization of valuation report by District Valuation Officer.
2. Petitioner's objection to the valuation report finalized without granting a hearing as per Section 142A of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Analysis:
1. The petitioner, an individual, sought a direction to be heard before the District Valuation Officer (DVO) finalizes the valuation report. Although the petitioner also prayed for setting aside the notice for reopening of assessment, this aspect was not pressed in the petition. The petitioner's objection primarily pertained to the report of valuation by the DVO dated 23.7.2018 concerning four immovable properties. The contention was that the report was finalized without granting the petitioner a hearing as required by sub-section 4 of Section 142A of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

2. The petitioner's counsel argued that if a reasonable opportunity of hearing was provided, the petitioner could have presented evidence indicating that the valuation of the properties was undervalued according to the DVO's assessment. It was also highlighted that some properties mentioned in the report did not belong to the petitioner. However, the court, after hearing both parties and examining the documents, declined to interfere at an intermediary stage when the Assessing Officer had not yet made a final assessment order.

3. The court emphasized that the Assessing Officer, as per sub-section 7 of Section 142A of the Act, must give the assessee an opportunity to be heard after receiving the report from the Valuation Officer before considering the report for assessment or reassessment. Therefore, the petitioner would have the opportunity to contest the report before the Assessing Officer, including raising objections related to the lack of a proper hearing as required under sub-section 4 of Section 142A. The court refrained from delving into the validity of this contention, allowing the petitioner to raise objections on various grounds during the assessment process.

4. Given that the assessment had not been finalized, the court found it inappropriate to interfere at that stage. The court disposed of the petitions with the observation that the petitioner would have the opportunity to contest the valuation report and raise objections during the assessment process before the Assessing Officer.

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